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Wednesday, May 06, 2009

A fascinating piece today in Greenwire, which notes that Minnesota Democratic Congressman Collin Peterson, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, is threatening to oppose global warming legislation because the US EPA is trying to do an honest job of evaluating corn-based ethanol.

Peterson, a favorite of ethanol producer Archer Daniels Midland, blasted the US EPA for following the law and trying to evaluate the lifecycle emissions of "biofuels."

Here is an excerpt from the article:

House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson said today that he won't support pending House climate legislation because he has lost faith in U.S EPA for its handling of proposed biofuels regulations.

"I will not support any kind of climate change bill," the Minnesota Democrat said at a hearing on the biofuels proposal with EPA and Agriculture Department officials. "I don't care. Even if you fix this. I don't trust anybody anymore."

Peterson said later that he would support a climate bill only if it were "ironclad" and detailed enough to keep EPA from writing implementing rules. But he added that he was unsure this was possible.

At issue: EPA draft rules for implementing the expanded renewable fuels standard that includes measurement of biofuels' greenhouse gas emissions. The rules include measurement of emissions from "indirect" land-use changes associated with biofuels -- an aspect Peterson and other ethanol defenders decry as unfair and unready for adoption.

The draft rules conclude, depending on the time frames modeled, that traditional corn ethanol could have slightly more "lifecycle" emissions than gasoline when these land-use changes are factored in.

Peterson told reporters he was suggesting to Democrats from other ethanol states that they also not support the House climate bill.

"By the time it gets down to the agency, what the hell is going to come out of it?" he said. "This thing is out of control."

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